Re: pairing Louise Bourgeois: sculpture and psychoanalysis in the years 1946 -1969

Thesis (M.A. (Fine Arts))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, School of Arts, 2016.The early part of this dissertation is concerned with a particular period (1946-­‐1969) in sculptor Louise Bourgeois’ life when her artistry and her psychoanalysis overlapped for the first time. Within this time frame, the years 1952 – 1969 reference a particular period when she was in deep psychoanalysis with Dr. Henry Lowenfeld, a period, which profoundly affected her self understanding and associated art practice. By establishing her positioning within a story of Modernism (as a departure point) I will then go on to consider how the more traditional historical readings of her work can be used to understand her work and behavior within a more pronounced psychoanalytic frame. From this positioning I will reconsider Bourgeois’ artistic practice as being deeply linked to an unconscious need to repair early psychic ruptures with maternal and paternal caretakers. From a Kleinian position I will foreground Bourgeois’ predisposition to sculpt as a reparative enactment driven by her primary internal Object-­‐Relations. Key works and free-­‐associative written material (composed in relation to her psychoanalytic sessions from the outlined time frame) will provide evidence for her psychic shifts over the period. These will be investigated in relation to changes in her sculptural output -­‐ key signifiers of repressed psychic experience, becoming conscious. The dissertation seeks to understand the relationship between these two investigative processes (art and psychoanalysis). Similarly, with reference to Bourgeois, the latter half of this project will investigate my personal (parallel) experience as a sculptor and analysand1 . In relation to both enquiries, I will specifically consider the therapeutic relationship between the physical act of making artworks and the verbal psychoanalytic experience. In an effort to understand how the pairing of these two communicative modalities might impact artistic experience.MT201

Integrating children's perspectives in policy-making to combat poverty and social exclusion experienced by single-parent families: a transnational comparative approach

This is the final report of a research project that addressed social exclusion and poverty as it relates to single parent families and their children in particular. The rising numbers of single parent families and children throughout the EU and the increased likelihood that these families will live in poverty and experience many different forms of social exclusion in their daily lives brings in sharp focus the need to address the issue as an urgent one in our efforts to eradicate poverty and social exclusion. The focus on the children of single parent families seeks to rectify a long-standing problem in our knowledge and understanding of single parent families and the social problems they face, namely, the fact that little, if anything, is known about how these children experience and understand their lives as members of these families. The research set out to contribute to policy development and the transnational exchange of best practice by adding a much-neglected dimension on single parent families. The project used a cross-national comparative qualitative research design and methods (Mangen 1999) which involved all partners in the design of each research phase including the analysis; partners were England, Cyprus and Greece

First year experience (FYE): International students’ experiences

International students confront a range of challenges during their transition to living and studying in Australia. Despite these challenges over 80% of international students reported high satisfaction with their life and study within Australia. This qualitative study reports on the experiences of 53 first year international students at ECU. Participants were students from across a range of study areas who responded to an online or face to face survey. Participants were required to respond to four questions which were analysed thematically to provide a summary of their experiences. Survey questions included their positive and negative experiences of being a first year student at ECU and changes that they suggested be considered by the university. Thematic analysis revealed a range of issues, most of which were reflected in previous research, however a range of ECU specific issues were also revealed, for example, resources and timetabling. This introductory research has provided initial data for developing future research. The cognitive nature of the survey may have limited the responses of participants. It is recommended that future research consider interviews with international students to review social and emotional issues

Analysis of queries from nurses to the South African National HIV & TB Health Care Worker Hotline

Background. Since 2008, the Medicines Information Centre (MIC) has run the South African National HIV & TB Health Care Worker Hotline which provides free information on patient treatment to all healthcare workers in South Africa. With the introduction of nurse-initiated management of antiretroviral therapy (NIMART) in the public sector, the need for easy access to HIV and tuberculosis (TB) information has increased, especially among nurses. The hotline aims to provide this, most importantly to nurses in rural areas, where clinical staff often have little access to peer review. Objective. To describe the queries received from nurses by the hotline between 1 March and 31 May 2012 and identify problem areas and knowledge gaps where nurses may require further training. Methods. All queries received from nurses during the study period were analysed. An experienced information pharmacist reviewed all queries to identify knowledge gaps. Results. During the study period, the hotline received a total of 1 479 HIV- and TB-related queries from healthcare workers. Of these, 386 were received from nurses, of which 254 (66%) were NIMART-trained. The most common query subtopic was initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) (20%), followed by adverse drug reactions (18%). The most common knowledge gap identified was the ability to interpret laboratory results before initiating ART (10%). Discussion. We conclude that the hotline is providing clinical help to an increasing number of nurses on the topic of treating HIV and TB throughout South Africa. In addition, queries directed to the hotline may assist in identifying knowledge gaps for the further training of nurses

IU Libraries Discovery Layer Implementation Task Force Progress Report and Notes & Recommendations for Future

In May 2013, the primary public interface for IUCAT transitioned to a new discovery layer interface, powered by the open source web application Blacklight. This document reports on progress and makes recommendations for enabling ongoing system-wide input into the development of the catalog discovery interface through the completion of the upcoming OLE migration project. Appendices include groups’ charges & memberships, and an annotated version of the original selection rubric notating status of product features.This report was prepared for the IU Council of Head Librarians

Identification of Plasmodium falciparum var1CSA and var2CSA domains that bind IgM natural antibodies

Malaria in pregnancy is responsible for maternal anaemia, low-birth-weight babies and infant deaths. Plasmodium falciparum infected erythrocytes are thought to cause placental pathology by adhering to host receptors such as chondroitin sulphate A (CSA). CSA binding infected erythrocytes also bind IgM natural antibodies from normal human serum, a process that may facilitate placental adhesion or promote immune evasion. The parasite ligands that mediate placental adhesion are thought to be members of the variant erythrocyte surface antigen family P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1), encoded by the var genes. Two var gene sub-families, var1CSA and var2CSA, have been identified as parasite CSA binding ligands and are leading candidates for a vaccine to prevent pregnancy-associated malaria. We investigated whether these two var gene subfamilies implicated in CSA binding are also the molecules responsible for IgM natural antibody binding. By heterologous expression of domains in COS-7 cells, we found that both var1CSA and var2CSA PfEMP1 variants bound IgM, and in both cases the binding region was a DBL epsilon domain occurring proximal to the membrane. None of the domains from a control non-IgM-binding parasite (R29) bound IgM when expressed in COS-7 cells. These results show that PfEMP1 is a parasite ligand for non-immune IgM and are the first demonstration of a specific adhesive function for PfEMP1 epsilon type domains

Predictors of IAPT psychological well-being practitioners’ intention to use CBT self-help materials routinely in their clinical practice

Despite efficacy and effectiveness evidence, and recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), use of CBT self-help materials remains inconsistent in UK mental health services. Since 2006, the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme has provided standardized training and mandates routine use of CBT self-help materials by their trainee psychological well-being practitioners (PWPs). This study tested whether the main constructs of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB; attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control), past use, prior training and demographic characteristics, would predict PWPs’ intention to use self-help materials routinely in their clinical practice. Stage 1 utilized a standardized procedure to create measures for the constructs of TPB, before the design and testing of a web-based, cross-sectional questionnaire. In stage 2, the questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of trainee PWPs (n = 94). Data was analysed using multiple linear regression, mediation analyses, and content analysis. TPB constructs predicted intention to use self-help materials, with only direct attitude contributing significantly to 70% of the variance in intention. Past use of materials predicted intention, via direct and indirect mediation. Qualitative data from 43 trainees highlighted clients’ experience of self-help materials as positive, albeit with some practical constraints. The results suggest that the main constructs of TPB have some utility in predicting trainee PWPs’ intention to use self-help materials routinely. Future prospective, longitudinal research could investigate actual use of self-help materials to elucidate cognitive factors involved in trainees’ clinical decision-making post-qualification

Categorizing facial expressions : a comparison of computational models

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com Copyright SpringerRecognizing expressions is a key part of human social interaction, and processing of facial expression information is largely automatic for humans, but it is a non-trivial task for a computational system. The purpose of this work is to develop computational models capable of differentiating between a range of human facial expressions. Raw face images are examples of high-dimensional data, so here we use two dimensionality reduction techniques: principal component analysis and curvilinear component analysis. We also preprocess the images with a bank of Gabor filters, so that important features in the face images may be identified. Subsequently, the faces are classified using a support vector machine. We show that it is possible to differentiate faces with a prototypical expression from the neutral expression. Moreover, we can achieve this with data that has been massively reduced in size: in the best case the original images are reduced to just 5 components. We also investigate the effect size on face images, a concept which has not been reported previously on faces. This enables us to identify those areas of the face that are involved in the production of a facial expression.Peer reviewe

Methodology for a Comprehensive Health Impact Assessment in Water Supply and Sanitation Programmes for Brazil

Based on the broader concept of health proposed by the Pan-American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/ WHO), 2018, and the absence in the literature of indices that translate the causal relationship between sanitation and health, a methodology for assessing the health impact of a water and sanitation programmes, known as a Health Impact Assessment (HIA), was developed, specifically in the Brazilian context, and focused on a school in the northeast of the country. Through exploratory and descriptive evidence, and using documentary research as a method, a retrospective survey was carried out from 2000 to 2022 using documents proposing evaluation methodologies. A single document was found to fit the research objective, which was used to develop the proposed HIA methodology. Development of the methodology consisted of two stages: definition of the health dimensions and selection of the indicators making up each dimension. The HIA methodology was then applied to a school in northeast Brazil to test its use, before a water-efficient management intervention was going to be used. The overall score of 46% indicated that there was room for improvement, which the new management approach could facilitate. This methodology is therefore proposed to be an instrument for the evaluation of public water and sanitation policies, thus assisting managers in the decision-making process and in guiding sanitation programs and plans